Empire Units
Back to Empire ---- Empire Units Racial Tag The Human race tag is the worst classification a unit in the game could be given, as units with this race tag suffer only a penalty for possessing it: *-1 combat during the night. ----------''Tier 1''---------- ''Peasant - Human Builder'' Peasants are average builders, possessing an average build skill and stats (comparatively to other builders). They have no special traits or abilities which means they can't be used for anything other than performing the usual builder jobs. Their production time is a little high for a builder, though, so they wont exactly be rushing out of the Palace to work for you. ''Pikeman - Basic Empire Infantry'' Pikemen are decently skilled units and have one of the highest combat scores for a basic unit, which can even be upgraded as much as +9 as the game goes, giving them a considerable advantage in at least one area against other basic melee units, and even some advanced! Their damage is a little low but can be doubled as early as tier 1, along with their armor, which when all upgrades are combined make Pikemen seriously good units for their cost. And that's not even taking their triple damage vs cavalry into count, which gives them help against those tier 2 units right from the start of the game. And since Pikemen are the Empire's basic infantry, they certainly will be massed and therefore immediately shuts down enemy cavalry based strategies as soon as the game begins, that is if the Empire's enemy has any sense.... ----------''Tier 2''---------- ''Archer - Basic Empire Missile Unit'' Like their name, Archers aren't very imaginative. They are pretty bog standard missile units that require large numbers and all three of their upgrades obtained in order to be able to achieve results. But once acquired, they become quite respectable, even if their price tag doesn't really justify their overall performance that is also likely to cause problems in later tiers. ''Mercenary - Basic Empire Cavalry'' Costs a hefty chunk of gold before upgrading, but builds instantly. Upgrades at the archway can make it up to 50% cheaper, and until then it's usually better to put off buying them. Their stats are pretty basic, but with their high speed and instant production they can be "summoned" into position quickly to help the Empire get a foothold of the enemy. ''Eagle - Basic Flier'' The Eagle's specialty is that it can build from both building lists and, by being a flier, you wont even have to worry about the Eagle trapping itself after building too closely to another object, as well as quickly getting to the destination of the construction site by ignoring any terrain in the way (barring cavern walls). As their build skill is only a single point lower than the Peasant's, they are, simply put, overall better than Peasants in regards to building, but only during the late game where you have need to build long distances away from locations. Eagles are also somewhat capable of combat and can quite easily fend off other basic fliers and even Imps. The triple damage vs larger flying units also helps out, but as much as the Empire could do with additional aerial support, Eagles are still pretty basic and their abilities can only go so far. As such, Eagles should only be used as support along side Archers to help fight off large swarms of enemy fliers or when playing against Daemons, and not used as a dedicated form of attack. ----------''Tier 3''---------- ''Halberdier - Advanced Empire Infantry'' Halberdiers are essentially uber Pikemen but with a slashing typed attacking instead of piercing. They share the same abilities, same cost ratio and are both upgraded by the same researches. All this mean that they do everything Pikemen do, but better. Unfortunately for them, their cost is pretty high. This reduces their numbers and have them appear only as special support units mid game instead of core units. Although in late game once the Empire have reached a Palace level 5, their need for metal drastically lowers. This is when Halberdiers can be produced in larger numbers. ''Elephant - Elite Empire Cavalry'' Going straight from basic cavalry to elite, Elephants are brutes with a scary damage output and intimidating bulk. These creatures can take a lot of punishment before eventually being felled, while threatening anything grounded that's not a building. With Mage support, their life span can be further extended through the use of Cure, Group Healing and Resist Fire. This makes Elephants front line units and ideal for spearheading assaults against enemy platoons. But their bulk isn't the only thing about them that is hefty - their production time and cost is immense! Producing just one of them can hit tiering quite hard. Further more, after investing in one, you still need to wait 3 minutes before you get to use it. Typically, it's best to skip Elephants at this stage and come back to them once you have a Palace level 5 or if you have plenty of resources to spend while your keep is already in the process of upgrading. ----------''Tier 4''---------- ''Catapult - Siege Weapon'' The Catapult is a siege weapon capable of immense power. It costs comparatively little, takes almost no time to produce considering it's a siege unit, and has incredible damage and range. Catapults may not be particularly tough and are vulnerable to air attacks but almost anything on the ground should fear this weapon despite its weakness. The special ability of the Catapult is its splash damage, which equates to throwing Giants at the enemy at an incredibly long range. Combine this with its cheap economical properties and you get a unit which literally dominates the ground metagame. ''Battering Ram - Siege Weapon'' Battering Rams are the most durable of all siege weapons, but not necessarily the most useful. Their speed couldn't be lower and their combat can off set their building razing capabilities due to the combat mismatch against the building, causing them to score a lot of misses. Also, not all towers will hit the Battering Ram against its higher armor rating or / and its special resistance, whereas the likes of the Catapult are equally as effective against all towers. ''White Mage - Basic Empire Spellcaster / General'' White Mages are one of the most useful units in the game and one that most players will certain add to their Hero's retinue after the battle is over. Their spells, Group Healing and Cure, form the perfect combination for keeping tough, hardy units in the battle for longer, including your very own Hero! On top of that, they also can convert buildings, lending their skills to map control as well. Although they are fragile for their cost and tier, as well as coming to the field with support spells and abilities, they aren't completely helpless in a fight. Their 20 electrical damage can sting quite hard, especially since an electrical resistance is rare. But a low combat and the inherited flaws of the attack type make it unreliable and rather luck based, which prevents the White Mage from being an utter fiend. But one should not be using them for direct combat, anyway, and they should always be behind a wall of tough, meaty units that can sponge damage for the White Mages to heal off. ''Griffon - Advanced Flier'' The Empire's aerial counters have been very lackluster up to this point. With Archers being generally poor units and White Mages being support ones, certain races could overwhelm the Empire with fliers that they could not fend off easily. The Griffon's natural combat capabilities and aerial support make them great additional units to the Empire, giving the race something more reliable for tackling enemy fliers. But due to their high price tag, they should still be paired up with Archers to get the work done quickly and thus less casualties. ----------''Tier 5''---------- ''Red Mage - Advanced Empire Spellcaster / General'' In past WBC titles, the Red Mage was another fantastic unit that pretty much had a retinue slot reserved for it purely because of the usefulness of its Resist Fire spell back then. But despite the nerf to the spell and the inclusion of different Dragon types, the Red Mage still stands up to the changed metagame of WBC3. Their 35 Fire damage can devastate buildings and their Ring of Fire spell still hits enemy infantry hard. This allows Red Mages to work as more-mobile siege weapons that are also capable of defending themselves, as well as converting any buildings they wish not to destroy. Either way, they will rob their enemy of their own buildings. Although the Resist Fire spell isn't nearly as useful as it once were, reducing enemy damage is still a useful trait and can even be used to help lessen the Elephants' weakness to fire. Like the other mages (and pretty much every spellcaster in the game), they are quite fragile and should always be behind a wall of infantry, with their Ring of Fire spell being used as a last line of defense against enemy attackers. ''Black Mage - Elite Empire Spellcaster / General'' While the Black Mage may not have any particularly interesting spells, the combination of Hand of Ice and the mana gain upon killing an enemy can really get the Black Mage's power snowballing! Hand of Ice is a cheap spell to cast, which allows the Black Mage to cast it twice when at full mana. (Four times with both Mysticism upgrades!) This makes the Black Mage superb for taking on large gangs of basic or fragile infantry, who certainly will fall to four Hand of Ice attacks, which in turn feed the Black Mage with mana to cast the spell again and again. The Black Mage also has access to the Drain Mana spell, but rarely gets the chance to successfully pull it off. By being naturally fragile and vulnerable to a common attack type (fire) the Black Mage simply wont be able to safely reach an enemy spellcaster, who are usually behind blockades of enemy infantry. Black Mages are also very expensive and hit the Empire's tier 5 unit production quite hard. ''Swamp Dragon - Elite Flier'' The Swamp Dragon is a great Dragon, dealing massive damage against buildings and punishing units by eroding their armor. However, when the Dragons become available for the Empire, they also have access to their Mages, who compete for resources and generally are more useful. To make things even more unsettling for the Swamp Dragon is that among the Mage choices is the Red Mage, an unit who also specializes in dealing fire type damage. Due to the natural synergy between the different Mages, this usually results in the Empire player preferring to spend their resources on them, but more to the point for this case, the Red Mage. So, although the Swamp Dragon is a great unit, the Empire would prefer to spend their resources on the Red Mage and co for a much more effective strategy. The Swamp Dragon can still be viable to them, but needs to be used in a way that's different to anything the Mages can do, such as taking advantage of the Swamp Dragon's ability to fly and exploiting vulnerable areas in an enemy's base defense with it. ''Frost Dragon - Elite Flier'' The Frost Dragon also hits the same resource problem as the Swamp Dragon, but due to its cold attack and effects that come with it, the Frost Dragon serves a unique roll for the Empire and makes the Dragon an unit that deserves to be produced. Its cold attack alone gives the Empire an ultimate counter to the dreaded Daemon, an unit that would have caused many problems for the Empire throughout the game, and its ability to slow down enemies literally stops the tougher enemies in their tracks. Although its production cost causes issues along side mass-Mage production, one should not discount the Frost Dragon because of it and should consider producing one sooner than later. If playing against Daemons or an enemy with a lot of tough, hard-hitting units, then the Frost Dragon should take priority. The Income and Trade skills researched early game should help make producing a Frost Dragon easier. Also, do not forget that the Empire have access to Mages that can heal (White Mage). When your Dragons are low on HP, pull them back to base and get your White Mages to heal them. This allows the Empire's Dragons to stick around longer than other races' Dragons and thus help keep production costs of them down to a minimum. ''The Lion Throne - Empire Titan'' The Lion Throne is usually compared to Iriki, the Ssrathi Titan, because of their ridiculas range. But, while Iriki boasts higher defensive stats, The Lion Throne has 2 extra points in range..... and that makes all the difference! Reaching this Godly range 16, The Lion Throne can outrange EVERY tower and defensive structure in the entire game, regardless of garrisoned troops. (Note: garrisoned towers can reach a range of 16, too, but some of their range is obstructed by their own building grid, which in turn can be targeted by enemy missile units to count as hitting the building) This means there is no base defense that can strike The Lion Throne and the enemy of the Empire must use troops to take him on. As such, The Lion Throne should be acompanied by guards prepared to handle swarms of units, ideally an assortment of Mages who can also stay back and deal damage from afar.